ASIC signs fintech agreement with Hong Kong
Regulators in Australia and Hong Kong are building bridges to assist financial technology companies expand abroad. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission and Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission signed a “co-operation agreement” on Tuesday that provides for facilitated introductions when a fintech company operating in one jurisdiction wants to better understand the rules in the other. ASIC commissioner Cathie Armour said the agreement will help to “ease entry” for Australian fintech start-ups seeking to enter the Hong Kong market by creating a simple pathway for engaging with the securities regulator. The agreement also provides a framework for information sharing between the two regulators. It is understood both want to […]
What’s holding up the blockchain?
It’s not technology or regulation holding back the blockchain – software that stores and transfers value or data across the internet – we just haven’t figured out the next big use-case. Two reports released this week by the CSIRO’s Data61 not only inject some well-researched gravitas into the conversation, they also provide insight into why some of the major blockchain projects have stalled. Since 2015, banks, regulators, tech giants and startups all over the world have raised billions of dollars to explore the blockchain. But the only really successful, scaleable use of the blockchain remains cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Bitcoins currently trade at almost AU$4,000, with a total market equivalent to […]
Instant payment possible for grain growers
Any delays between delivering grain and being paid for it could become a thing of the past, but Australia will need to develop a digital currency to make this happen. That’s according to AgriDigital co-founder Bob Mckay. His company successfully completed a world-first last year by executing the settlement of an agricultural commodity on a blockchain, a public ledger of digital currency transactions. In December last year AgriDigital’s software used real-time data of a grain sale between a Dubbo grain grower who delivered wheat to meat processor Fletcher International, and executed this transaction on a blockchain. AgriDigital has computer software that connects buyers, growers and storage providers. Mr McKay, who […]
DigitalX secures new funding
DigitalX Ltd (Company or DCC) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a conditional subscription agreement and converting loan agreement with Blockchain Global Limited, an Australian incorporated company operating in the Bitcoin and Blockchain space internationally, to invest approximately $4.35m at 2.7 cents per share to acquire an interest in approximately 40% of DigitalX on a fully diluted basis. The price of the investment represents a 28.5% premium to the VWAP of DigitalX’s shares over the last 5 days in which shares were traded prior to the date of this announcement. The investment is conditional upon the satisfaction of specific conditions precedent, which are outlined below. Under […]
Data61 reports blockchain will have a profound impact on the economy
A scientific study of blockchain by the CSIRO’s specialist Data61 unit has found the management of supply chains, including trade finance and insurance, as a “highly promising” use case for the emerging technology, which will enhance productivity across the agriculture, banking, healthcare, logistics and public sectors and help business and government manage the deluge of data about to be unleashed by the internet of things. But two reports to be released on Wednesday also point to various limitations of the much-hyped technology, warning it could compromise privacy, breach confidentiality, and create security concerns should encryption ever be broken by faster computing power. Data61’s reports are the product of almost a […]
Why Australia needs to champion an open system for blockchain
American astronomer and educator Clifford Stoll wrote an article in 1995 called ‘Why the Web won’t be Nirvana’. It still gets passed around as an amusing discussion piece highlighting the doubts people had about the internet. Stoll was sceptical about the web, especially “cyber business”: “So how come my local mall does more business in an afternoon than the entire Internet handles in a month?” The Clifford Stolls are still out there. You’ll find some of them these days expressing doubts about blockchain technology. But plenty of very reputable and smart people have recognised blockchain could be the building block for something truly transformative, as revolutionary as the internet. This […]
Bitcoin move over – there’s a new kid on the blockchain
The digital currency bitcoin has broken new records – surging by more than 245 per cent since the start of the year. In just five months, the price of one bitcoin rose from $1,331 to its all-time-high of $3,894 on May 25. People buy bitcoins for all sorts of reasons. They range from those seeking to invest in safe haven assets in the face of political instability, speculators wanting to ride the wave of what some regard to be an asset bubble, to purchasers who want to purchase illegal goods anonymously on the dark web. Since mid-2010, when the highly-volatile currency was worth just 9 cents, it has surged by […]
Vic govt eyes blockchain’s potential
The Victorian government has become a member of Australian Digital Currency and Commerce Association (ADCCA) through the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. The government is looking to partner with the organisation “to explore the potential application and impact of blockchain across the economy, including but not limited to the financial services, health and food sectors,” the state’s minister for small business, innovation and trade, Philip Dalidakis, told Computerworld. Blockchain is the distributed ledger technology (DLT) that underpins Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies. “Backed by the strength of our digital technology sector, Victoria’s fintech sector and its capabilities are growing, and so is our global reputation for developing innovative […]
